NU FOOTBALL - NU Re-View: Nebraska 56, Kansas State 28

THE GOOD ...
- TRENCH DOMINATION: There were lots of reasons Nebraska was successful against the Purples last Saturday. But primary among them was Nebraska's ability to win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Quietly, Nebraska's front four has become an excellent unit both in stopping the run and pressuring the quarterback without a blitz. KSU quarterback Josh Freeman was pulled in the third quarter after being sacked and harried the whole game, and I surmised that he had declared for the NFL draft right from the sidelines.
- BURST FROM THE BACK: I know, I know, I'm harping. But Roy Helu, Jr., continues to impress as a dynamic, dangerous offensive weapon. God bless Marlon Lucky for his contributions and having to go through the whole Callahan era. God bless Quentin Castille for putting some Velcro on the ball for one game. But Helu's presence on the field changes the dynamic for NU's offense. I can't wait to see what he'll look like next year as the feature back.
- THE SEA OF RED: I'm not going to lie to you. It was cold on Saturday. And Manhattan ain't exactly walking distance from Nebraska. But there was red EVERYWHERE on Saturday in the stands. And, after halftime, I would not be surprised if there was more red than purple left in the stands. And people wonder if 'Husker Fan will travel to El Paso for a bowl game?

THE BAD ...
- NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS: Nebraska's kick return coverage unit is now so bad, and has so lost the confidence of the coaches, that they tried every possible kickoff strategy other than kick it deep. An onside kick. A pooch kick. A sky kick. Anything other than kicking it deep - which, of course, led to a Wildcat touchdown. Adi Kunalic has a powerful leg, but is so inconsistent that he got pulled for Alex Henery and the kickoff experimentation. I don't know why this is such a mystery for NU, but it's a problem.
- THAT FIRST PASS: For two road games in a row, quarterback Joe Ganz's first pass of the game was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Now, that's a lot easier to overcome against a demoralized Kansas State team than against a national powerhouse like Oklahoma. And it's a credit to Ganz that he could recover again and have game good enough to be awarded Big XII Offensive Player of the Week. But really, Joe, watch out with that first one!
- PREGAME HIJINX: I wish I was making this up. Before the K-State version of the tunnel walk, they showed a five-minute video of Willie the Wildcat being "abducted" by four bumpkin-like Herbie Huskers, taken into a cornfield, and left. Of course, Willie "escaped" and rounded up those rascally 'Huskers, leading into the game. All that was missing was the "Benny Hill" music, it was that wacky. But I was just amazed at a few things. Most notably, it's K-State fan making fun of Nebraska for being "country bumpkin." I turned to my friend just to verify that we were in MANHATTAN FREAKING KANSAS, in a football stadium in the middle of Nowhere, USA, and K-State Fan was going "country bumpkin" on us. Seriously. We parked in the livestock husbandry fields outside of the stadium, for heaven's sake. Methinks thou dost protest too much, Purples.

... AND THE RESTORATION OF THE ORDER.
Sorry for recycling a Billy-C-ism, but it's true. After beating a solid Kansas team last week, and demolishing what's left of Bill Snyder's legacy, Nebraska now looks to have established itself as the clear #2 team in the Big XII North. That's not exactly where NU wants to end up, but with Chase Daniel and (probably) Jeremy Maclin leaving Columbia next year, Nebraska is in good shape to make a division run next year.

THE BIG PICTURE.
More than anything, what is fun to watch now is how this team has progressed through the season. I maintain that Bo Pelini's inexperience cost Nebraska the game against Virginia Tech, and his attempt to be cute and clever never gave NU a shot against Missouri. But he also put together a team that took Texas Tech to the wire, and who has now scored decisive victories against teams that are equal to or lesser than NU from a talent perspective. That's a very solid foundation to build on. Nebraska's season to this point hasn't been wildly successful, but has accomplished the one thing Pelini needed - to put a foundation of hope together.

THE NEXT GAME.
Colorado @ Nebraska. Wow. A Colorado team needing to win its' last game to become bowl-eligible and help their embattled coach. The irony is delicious. In Callahan's first year, CU players brought hammers to Lincoln to symbolically put the final nail in the coffin of Nebraska's bowl streak. While there are few on the team who will remember that, the fans will. Memorial Stadium will be ready and waiting for Ralphie and the boys to show up the day after Thanksgiving. And with Pelini's track record against teams of CU's level, it doesn't shape up to be a good day for the Golden Buffaloes.

GBR, baby.